Resource allocation for repeater-assisted positioning reference signal (prs) transmission

ABSTRACT

Disclosed are techniques for wireless communication. In an aspect, a repeater receives, from a network entity, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of the PRS configuration, the PRS configuration specifying one or more PRS resources of one or more PRS resource sets, and transmits, to one or more user equipments (UEs), a PRS waveform representing the one or more PRS resources of the one or more PRS resource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE 1. Field of the Disclosure

Aspects of the disclosure relate generally to wireless communications.

2. Description of the Related Art

Wireless communication systems have developed through variousgenerations, including a first-generation analog wireless phone service(1G), a second-generation (2G) digital wireless phone service (includinginterim 2.5G and 2.75G networks), a third-generation (3G) high speeddata, Internet-capable wireless service and a fourth-generation (4G)service (e.g., Long Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax). There are presentlymany different types of wireless communication systems in use, includingcellular and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Examples ofknown cellular systems include the cellular analog advanced mobile phonesystem (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on code divisionmultiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), timedivision multiple access (TDMA), the Global System for Mobilecommunications (GSM), etc.

A fifth generation (5G) wireless standard, referred to as New Radio(NR), calls for higher data transfer speeds, greater numbers ofconnections, and better coverage, among other improvements. The 5Gstandard, according to the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance, isdesigned to provide data rates of several tens of megabits per second toeach of tens of thousands of users, with 1 gigabit per second to tens ofworkers on an office floor. Several hundreds of thousands ofsimultaneous connections should be supported in order to support largesensor deployments. Consequently, the spectral efficiency of 5G mobilecommunications should be significantly enhanced compared to the current4G standard. Furthermore, signaling efficiencies should be enhanced andlatency should be substantially reduced compared to current standards.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary relating to one or moreaspects disclosed herein. Thus, the following summary should not beconsidered an extensive overview relating to all contemplated aspects,nor should the following summary be considered to identify key orcritical elements relating to all contemplated aspects or to delineatethe scope associated with any particular aspect. Accordingly, thefollowing summary has the sole purpose to present certain conceptsrelating to one or more aspects relating to the mechanisms disclosedherein in a simplified form to precede the detailed descriptionpresented below.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a repeaterincludes receiving, from a network entity, a positioning referencesignal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of the PRS configuration, thePRS configuration specifying one or more PRS resources of one or morePRS resource sets; and transmitting, to one or more user equipments(UEs), a PRS waveform representing the one or more PRS resources of theone or more PRS resource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a repeaterincludes receiving, from a base station, one or more positioningreference signal (PRS) resources of one or more PRS resource sets,wherein the one or more PRS resources are received on a bandwidthoutside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS, compressed, scrambled, atleast partially de-staggered, over a first bandwidth less than a secondbandwidth and a first number of symbols greater than a second number ofsymbols, or any combination thereof to prevent user equipments (UEs)from measuring the one or more PRS resources; and transmitting the oneor more PRS resources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRSresources are transmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS,decompressed, descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and thesecond number of symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the oneor more UEs to measure the one or more PRS resources.

In an aspect, a method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE) includes receiving, from a network entity, configurationinformation for one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resourcesof a PRS resource set, the configuration information including at leastan indication that the one or more PRS resources are compressed in afrequency domain and a start point of the one or more PRS resources inthe frequency domain; and receiving, from a base station, the one ormore PRS resources based on the configuration information.

In an aspect, a repeater includes a memory; at least one transceiver;and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and theat least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a network entity, apositioning reference signal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of thePRS configuration, the PRS configuration specifying one or more PRSresources of one or more PRS resource sets; and transmit, via the atleast one transceiver, to one or more user equipments (UEs), a PRSwaveform representing the one or more PRS resources of the one or morePRS resource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.

In an aspect, a repeater includes a memory; at least one transceiver;and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and theat least one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a base station, one ormore positioning reference signal (PRS) resources of one or more PRSresource sets, wherein the one or more PRS resources are received on abandwidth outside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS, compressed,scrambled, at least partially de-staggered, over a first bandwidth lessthan a second bandwidth and a first number of symbols greater than asecond number of symbols, or any combination thereof to prevent userequipments (UEs) from measuring the one or more PRS resources; andtransmit, via the at least one transceiver, the one or more PRSresources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRS resources aretransmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS, decompressed,descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and the second numberof symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the one or more UEs tomeasure the one or more PRS resources.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a networkentity, configuration information for one or more positioning referencesignal (PRS) resources of a PRS resource set, the configurationinformation including at least an indication that the one or more PRSresources are compressed in a frequency domain and a start point of theone or more PRS resources in the frequency domain; and receive, via theat least one transceiver, from a base station, the one or more PRSresources based on the configuration information.

In an aspect, a repeater includes means for receiving, from a networkentity, a positioning reference signal (PRS) configuration or anindicator of the PRS configuration, the PRS configuration specifying oneor more PRS resources of one or more PRS resource sets; and means fortransmitting, to one or more user equipments (UEs), a PRS waveformrepresenting the one or more PRS resources of the one or more PRSresource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.

In an aspect, a repeater includes means for receiving, from a basestation, one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources of oneor more PRS resource sets, wherein the one or more PRS resources arereceived on a bandwidth outside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS,compressed, scrambled, at least partially de-staggered, over a firstbandwidth less than a second bandwidth and a first number of symbolsgreater than a second number of symbols, or any combination thereof toprevent user equipments (UEs) from measuring the one or more PRSresources; and means for transmitting the one or more PRS resources toone or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRS resources are transmittedon the bandwidth allocated for PRS, decompressed, descrambled,staggered, over the second bandwidth and the second number of symbols,or any combination thereof to enable the one or more UEs to measure theone or more PRS resources.

In an aspect, a user equipment (UE) includes means for receiving, from anetwork entity, configuration information for one or more positioningreference signal (PRS) resources of a PRS resource set, theconfiguration information including at least an indication that the oneor more PRS resources are compressed in a frequency domain and a startpoint of the one or more PRS resources in the frequency domain; andmeans for receiving, from a base station, the one or more PRS resourcesbased on the configuration information.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storescomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a repeater,cause the repeater to: receive, from a network entity, a positioningreference signal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of the PRSconfiguration, the PRS configuration specifying one or more PRSresources of one or more PRS resource sets; and transmit, to one or moreuser equipments (UEs), a PRS waveform representing the one or more PRSresources of the one or more PRS resource sets in accordance with thePRS configuration.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storescomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a repeater,cause the repeater to: receive, from a base station, one or morepositioning reference signal (PRS) resources of one or more PRS resourcesets, wherein the one or more PRS resources are received on a bandwidthoutside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS, compressed, scrambled, atleast partially de-staggered, over a first bandwidth less than a secondbandwidth and a first number of symbols greater than a second number ofsymbols, or any combination thereof to prevent user equipments (UEs)from measuring the one or more PRS resources; and transmit the one ormore PRS resources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRSresources are transmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS,decompressed, descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and thesecond number of symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the oneor more UEs to measure the one or more PRS resources.

In an aspect, a non-transitory computer-readable medium storescomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by a user equipment(UE), cause the UE to: receive, from a network entity, configurationinformation for one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resourcesof a PRS resource set, the configuration information including at leastan indication that the one or more PRS resources are compressed in afrequency domain and a start point of the one or more PRS resources inthe frequency domain; and receive, from a base station, the one or morePRS resources based on the configuration information.

Other objects and advantages associated with the aspects disclosedherein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on theaccompanying drawings and detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description ofvarious aspects of the disclosure and are provided solely forillustration of the aspects and not limitation thereof.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system, accordingto aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate example wireless network structures,according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C are simplified block diagrams of several sampleaspects of components that may be employed in a user equipment (UE), abase station, and a network entity, respectively, and configured tosupport communications as taught herein.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example frame structure, accordingto aspects of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example positioning reference signal (PRS)configuration for the PRS transmissions of a given base station,according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate the differences between a repeater functionand a relay function.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a wireless environment in which a basestation is transmitting PRS to UEs in various geographical areas,according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate examples of removing empty tones from PRS,according to aspects of the disclosure.

FIGS. 9 to 11 illustrate example methods of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Aspects of the disclosure are provided in the following description andrelated drawings directed to various examples provided for illustrationpurposes. Alternate aspects may be devised without departing from thescope of the disclosure. Additionally, well-known elements of thedisclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as notto obscure the relevant details of the disclosure.

The words “exemplary” and/or “example” are used herein to mean “servingas an example, instance, or illustration.” Any aspect described hereinas “exemplary” and/or “example” is not necessarily to be construed aspreferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term“aspects of the disclosure” does not require that all aspects of thedisclosure include the discussed feature, advantage or mode ofoperation.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that the information andsignals described below may be represented using any of a variety ofdifferent technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions,commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may bereferenced throughout the description below may be represented byvoltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles,optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof, depending inpart on the particular application, in part on the desired design, inpart on the corresponding technology, etc.

Further, many aspects are described in terms of sequences of actions tobe performed by, for example, elements of a computing device. It will berecognized that various actions described herein can be performed byspecific circuits (e.g., application specific integrated circuits(ASICs)), by program instructions being executed by one or moreprocessors, or by a combination of both. Additionally, the sequence(s)of actions described herein can be considered to be embodied entirelywithin any form of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumhaving stored therein a corresponding set of computer instructions that,upon execution, would cause or instruct an associated processor of adevice to perform the functionality described herein. Thus, the variousaspects of the disclosure may be embodied in a number of differentforms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of theclaimed subject matter. In addition, for each of the aspects describedherein, the corresponding form of any such aspects may be describedherein as, for example, “logic configured to” perform the describedaction.

As used herein, the terms “user equipment” (UE) and “base station” arenot intended to be specific or otherwise limited to any particular radioaccess technology (RAT), unless otherwise noted. In general, a UE may beany wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, router, tabletcomputer, laptop computer, consumer asset locating device, wearable(e.g., smartwatch, glasses, augmented reality (AR)/virtual reality (VR)headset, etc.), vehicle (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, etc.),Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicateover a wireless communications network. A UE may be mobile or may (e.g.,at certain times) be stationary, and may communicate with a radio accessnetwork (RAN). As used herein, the term “UE” may be referred tointerchangeably as an “access terminal” or “AT,” a “client device,” a“wireless device,” a “subscriber device,” a “subscriber terminal,” a“subscriber station,” a “user terminal” or “UT,” a “mobile device,” a“mobile terminal,” a “mobile station,” or variations thereof. Generally,UEs can communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the corenetwork the UEs can be connected with external networks such as theInternet and with other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms of connectingto the core network and/or the Internet are also possible for the UEs,such as over wired access networks, wireless local area network (WLAN)networks (e.g., based on the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11 specification, etc.) and so on.

A base station may operate according to one of several RATs incommunication with UEs depending on the network in which it is deployed,and may be alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a networknode, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), aNew Radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB or gNodeB), etc. A basestation may be used primarily to support wireless access by UEs,including supporting data, voice, and/or signaling connections for thesupported UEs. In some systems a base station may provide purely edgenode signaling functions while in other systems it may provideadditional control and/or network management functions. A communicationlink through which UEs can send signals to a base station is called anuplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse controlchannel, an access channel, etc.). A communication link through whichthe base station can send signals to UEs is called a downlink (DL) orforward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, abroadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). As used herein theterm traffic channel (TCH) can refer to either an uplink/reverse ordownlink/forward traffic channel.

The term “base station” may refer to a single physicaltransmission-reception point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs that mayor may not be co-located. For example, where the term “base station”refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna ofthe base station corresponding to a cell (or several cell sectors) ofthe base station. Where the term “base station” refers to multipleco-located physical TRPs, the physical TRPs may be an array of antennas(e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where thebase station employs beamforming) of the base station. Where the term“base station” refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, thephysical TRPs may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network ofspatially separated antennas connected to a common source via atransport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base stationconnected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-locatedphysical TRPs may be the serving base station receiving the measurementreport from the UE and a neighbor base station whose reference radiofrequency (RF) signals the UE is measuring. Because a TRP is the pointfrom which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, asused herein, references to transmission from or reception at a basestation are to be understood as referring to a particular TRP of thebase station.

In some implementations that support positioning of UEs, a base stationmay not support wireless access by UEs (e.g., may not support data,voice, and/or signaling connections for UEs), but may instead transmitreference signals to UEs to be measured by the UEs, and/or may receiveand measure signals transmitted by the UEs. Such a base station may bereferred to as a positioning beacon (e.g., when transmitting signals toUEs) and/or as a location measurement unit (e.g., when receiving andmeasuring signals from UEs).

An “RF signal” comprises an electromagnetic wave (or waveform) of agiven frequency that transports information through the space between atransmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit asingle “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, thereceiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to eachtransmitted RF signal due to the propagation characteristics of RFsignals through multipath channels. The same transmitted RF signal ondifferent paths between the transmitter and receiver may be referred toas a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also bereferred to as a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it isclear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wirelesssignal or an RF signal.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example wireless communications system 100,according to aspects of the disclosure. The wireless communicationssystem 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN)) may include various base stations 102 (labeled “BS”) andvarious UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macro cell basestations (high power cellular base stations) and/or small cell basestations (low power cellular base stations). In an aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs and/or ng-eNBs where the wirelesscommunications system 100 corresponds to an LTE network, or gNBs wherethe wireless communications system 100 corresponds to a NR network, or acombination of both, and the small cell base stations may includefemtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with acore network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC))through backhaul links 122, and through the core network 170 to one ormore location servers 172 (e.g., a location management function (LMF) ora secure user plane location (SUPL) location platform (SLP)). Thelocation server(s) 172 may be part of core network 170 or may beexternal to core network 170. In addition to other functions, the basestations 102 may perform functions that relate to one or more oftransferring user data, radio channel ciphering and deciphering,integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions(e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interferencecoordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, distributionfor non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection,synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service(MBMS), subscriber and equipment trace, RAN information management(RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The basestations 102 may communicate with each other directly or indirectly(e.g., through the EPC/5GC) over backhaul links 134, which may be wiredor wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. In an aspect, one or more cellsmay be supported by a base station 102 in each geographic coverage area110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communicationwith a base station (e.g., over some frequency resource, referred to asa carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, or the like), andmay be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier(PCI), an enhanced cell identifier (ECI), a virtual cell identifier(VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI), etc.) for distinguishing cellsoperating via the same or a different carrier frequency. In some cases,different cells may be configured according to different protocol types(e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT),enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access fordifferent types of UEs. Because a cell is supported by a specific basestation, the term “cell” may refer to either or both of the logicalcommunication entity and the base station that supports it, depending onthe context. In addition, because a TRP is typically the physicaltransmission point of a cell, the terms “cell” and “TRP” may be usedinterchangeably. In some cases, the term “cell” may also refer to ageographic coverage area of a base station (e.g., a sector), insofar asa carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication withinsome portion of geographic coverage areas 110.

While neighboring macro cell base station 102 geographic coverage areas110 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover region), some of thegeographic coverage areas 110 may be substantially overlapped by alarger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell basestation 102′ (labeled “SC” for “small cell”) may have a geographiccoverage area 110′ that substantially overlaps with the geographiccoverage area 110 of one or more macro cell base stations 102. A networkthat includes both small cell and macro cell base stations may be knownas a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also includehome eNBs (HeNBs), which may provide service to a restricted group knownas a closed subscriber group (CSG).

The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and the UEs104 may include uplink (also referred to as reverse link) transmissionsfrom a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL) (also referredto as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102 to a UE 104.The communication links 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, includingspatial multiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. Thecommunication links 120 may be through one or more carrier frequencies.Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to downlink anduplink (e.g., more or less carriers may be allocated for downlink thanfor uplink).

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a wirelesslocal area network (WLAN) access point (AP) 150 in communication withWLAN stations (STAs) 152 via communication links 154 in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum (e.g., 5 GHz). When communicating in an unlicensedfrequency spectrum, the WLAN STAs 152 and/or the WLAN AP 150 may performa clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedureprior to communicating in order to determine whether the channel isavailable.

The small cell base station 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or anunlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequencyspectrum, the small cell base station 102′ may employ LTE or NRtechnology and use the same 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum as usedby the WLAN AP 150. The small cell base station 102′, employing LTE/5Gin an unlicensed frequency spectrum, may boost coverage to and/orincrease capacity of the access network. NR in unlicensed spectrum maybe referred to as NR-U. LTE in an unlicensed spectrum may be referred toas LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a millimeterwave (mmW) base station 180 that may operate in mmW frequencies and/ornear mmW frequencies in communication with a UE 182. Extremely highfrequency (EHF) is part of the RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHFhas a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and a wavelength between 1 millimeterand 10 millimeters. Radio waves in this band may be referred to as amillimeter wave. Near mmW may extend down to a frequency of 3 GHz with awavelength of 100 millimeters. The super high frequency (SHF) bandextends between 3 GHz and 30 GHz, also referred to as centimeter wave.Communications using the mmW/near mmW radio frequency band have highpath loss and a relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and theUE 182 may utilize beamforming (transmit and/or receive) over a mmWcommunication link 184 to compensate for the extremely high path lossand short range. Further, it will be appreciated that in alternativeconfigurations, one or more base stations 102 may also transmit usingmmW or near mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be appreciatedthat the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not beconstrued to limit the various aspects disclosed herein.

Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in aspecific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a basestation) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in alldirections (omni-directionally). With transmit beamforming, the networknode determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located(relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a strongerdownlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing afaster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal for the receivingdevice(s). To change the directionality of the RF signal whentransmitting, a network node can control the phase and relativeamplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters thatare broadcasting the RF signal. For example, a network node may use anarray of antennas (referred to as a “phased array” or an “antennaarray”) that creates a beam of RF waves that can be “steered” to pointin different directions, without actually moving the antennas.Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to theindividual antennas with the correct phase relationship so that theradio waves from the separate antennas add together to increase theradiation in a desired direction, while cancelling to suppress radiationin undesired directions.

Transmit beams may be quasi-co-located, meaning that they appear to thereceiver (e.g., a UE) as having the same parameters, regardless ofwhether or not the transmitting antennas of the network node themselvesare physically co-located. In NR, there are four types ofquasi-co-location (QCL) relations. Specifically, a QCL relation of agiven type means that certain parameters about a second reference RFsignal on a second beam can be derived from information about a sourcereference RF signal on a source beam. Thus, if the source reference RFsignal is QCL Type A, the receiver can use the source reference RFsignal to estimate the Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, anddelay spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type B, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andDoppler spread of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type C, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the Doppler shift andaverage delay of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel. If the source reference RF signal is QCL Type D, the receivercan use the source reference RF signal to estimate the spatial receiveparameter of a second reference RF signal transmitted on the samechannel.

In receive beamforming, the receiver uses a receive beam to amplify RFsignals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver canincrease the gain setting and/or adjust the phase setting of an array ofantennas in a particular direction to amplify (e.g., to increase thegain level of) the RF signals received from that direction. Thus, when areceiver is said to beamform in a certain direction, it means the beamgain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along otherdirections, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest comparedto the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams availableto the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength(e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal receivedquality (RSRQ), signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR), etc.) ofthe RF signals received from that direction.

Transmit and receive beams may be spatially related. A spatial relationmeans that parameters for a second beam (e.g., a transmit or receivebeam) for a second reference signal can be derived from informationabout a first beam (e.g., a receive beam or a transmit beam) for a firstreference signal. For example, a UE may use a particular receive beam toreceive a reference downlink reference signal (e.g., synchronizationsignal block (SSB)) from a base station. The UE can then form a transmitbeam for sending an uplink reference signal (e.g., sounding referencesignal (SRS)) to that base station based on the parameters of thereceive beam.

Note that a “downlink” beam may be either a transmit beam or a receivebeam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a base stationis forming the downlink beam to transmit a reference signal to a UE, thedownlink beam is a transmit beam. If the UE is forming the downlinkbeam, however, it is a receive beam to receive the downlink referencesignal. Similarly, an “uplink” beam may be either a transmit beam or areceive beam, depending on the entity forming it. For example, if a basestation is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink receive beam, and ifa UE is forming the uplink beam, it is an uplink transmit beam.

In 5G, the frequency spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., basestations 102/180, UEs 104/182) operate is divided into multiplefrequency ranges, FR1 (from 450 to 6000 MHz), FR2 (from 24250 to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). mmWfrequency bands generally include the FR2, FR3, and FR4 frequencyranges. As such, the terms “mmW” and “FR2” or “FR3” or “FR4” maygenerally be used interchangeably.

In a multi-carrier system, such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies isreferred to as the “primary carrier” or “anchor carrier” or “primaryserving cell” or “PCell,” and the remaining carrier frequencies arereferred to as “secondary carriers” or “secondary serving cells” or“SCells.” In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrieroperating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by a UE 104/182and the cell in which the UE 104/182 either performs the initial radioresource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiatesthe RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carriercarries all common and UE-specific control channels, and may be acarrier in a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case).A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g.,FR2) that may be configured once the RRC connection is establishedbetween the UE 104 and the anchor carrier and that may be used toprovide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carriermay be a carrier in an unlicensed frequency. The secondary carrier maycontain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example,those that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier,since both primary uplink and downlink carriers are typicallyUE-specific. This means that different UEs 104/182 in a cell may havedifferent downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplinkprimary carriers. The network is able to change the primary carrier ofany UE 104/182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance theload on different carriers. Because a “serving cell” (whether a PCell oran SCell) corresponds to a carrier frequency/component carrier overwhich some base station is communicating, the term “cell,” “servingcell,” “component carrier,” “carrier frequency,” and the like can beused interchangeably.

For example, still referring to FIG. 1 , one of the frequencies utilizedby the macro cell base stations 102 may be an anchor carrier (or“PCell”) and other frequencies utilized by the macro cell base stations102 and/or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers(“SCells”). The simultaneous transmission and/or reception of multiplecarriers enables the UE 104/182 to significantly increase its datatransmission and/or reception rates. For example, two 20 MHz aggregatedcarriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically lead to atwo-fold increase in data rate (i.e., 40 MHz), compared to that attainedby a single 20 MHz carrier.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include a UE 164 thatmay communicate with a macro cell base station 102 over a communicationlink 120 and/or the mmW base station 180 over a mmW communication link184. For example, the macro cell base station 102 may support a PCelland one or more S Cells for the UE 164 and the mmW base station 180 maysupport one or more SCells for the UE 164.

In the example of FIG. 1 , any of the illustrated UEs (shown in FIG. 1as a single UE 104 for simplicity) may receive signals 124 from one ormore Earth orbiting space vehicles (SVs) 112 (e.g., satellites). In anaspect, the SVs 112 may be part of a satellite positioning system that aUE 104 can use as an independent source of location information. Asatellite positioning system typically includes a system of transmitters(e.g., SVs 112) positioned to enable receivers (e.g., UEs 104) todetermine their location on or above the Earth based, at least in part,on positioning signals (e.g., signals 124) received from thetransmitters. Such a transmitter typically transmits a signal markedwith a repeating pseudo-random noise (PN) code of a set number of chips.While typically located in SVs 112, transmitters may sometimes belocated on ground-based control stations, base stations 102, and/orother UEs 104. A UE 104 may include one or more dedicated receiversspecifically designed to receive signals 124 for deriving geo locationinformation from the SVs 112.

In a satellite positioning system, the use of signals 124 can beaugmented by various satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS) thatmay be associated with or otherwise enabled for use with one or moreglobal and/or regional navigation satellite systems. For example an SBASmay include an augmentation system(s) that provides integrityinformation, differential corrections, etc., such as the Wide AreaAugmentation System (WAAS), the European Geostationary NavigationOverlay Service (EGNOS), the Multi-functional Satellite AugmentationSystem (MSAS), the Global Positioning System (GPS) Aided Geo AugmentedNavigation or GPS and Geo Augmented Navigation system (GAGAN), and/orthe like. Thus, as used herein, a satellite positioning system mayinclude any combination of one or more global and/or regional navigationsatellites associated with such one or more satellite positioningsystems.

In an aspect, SVs 112 may additionally or alternatively be part of oneor more non-terrestrial networks (NTNs). In an NTN, an SV 112 isconnected to an earth station (also referred to as a ground station, NTNgateway, or gateway), which in turn is connected to an element in a 5Gnetwork, such as a modified base station 102 (without a terrestrialantenna) or a network node in a 5GC. This element would in turn provideaccess to other elements in the 5G network and ultimately to entitiesexternal to the 5G network, such as Internet web servers and other userdevices. In that way, a UE 104 may receive communication signals (e.g.,signals 124) from an SV 112 instead of, or in addition to, communicationsignals from a terrestrial base station 102.

The wireless communications system 100 may further include one or moreUEs, such as UE 190, that connects indirectly to one or morecommunication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D)peer-to-peer (P2P) links (referred to as “sidelinks”). In the example ofFIG. 1 , UE 190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connectedto one of the base stations 102 (e.g., through which UE 190 mayindirectly obtain cellular connectivity) and a D2D P2P link 194 withWLAN STA 152 connected to the WLAN AP 150 (through which UE 190 mayindirectly obtain WLAN-based Internet connectivity). In an example, theD2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported with any well-known D2D RAT,such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Bluetooth®, and so on.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example wireless network structure 200. Forexample, a 5GC 210 (also referred to as a Next Generation Core (NGC))can be viewed functionally as control plane (C-plane) functions 214(e.g., UE registration, authentication, network access, gatewayselection, etc.) and user plane (U-plane) functions 212, (e.g., UEgateway function, access to data networks, IP routing, etc.) whichoperate cooperatively to form the core network. User plane interface(NG-U) 213 and control plane interface (NG-C) 215 connect the gNB 222 tothe 5GC 210 and specifically to the user plane functions 212 and controlplane functions 214, respectively. In an additional configuration, anng-eNB 224 may also be connected to the 5GC 210 via NG-C 215 to thecontrol plane functions 214 and NG-U 213 to user plane functions 212.Further, ng-eNB 224 may directly communicate with gNB 222 via a backhaulconnection 223. In some configurations, a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)220 may have one or more gNBs 222, while other configurations includeone or more of both ng-eNBs 224 and gNBs 222. Either (or both) gNB 222or ng-eNB 224 may communicate with one or more UEs 204 (e.g., any of theUEs described herein).

Another optional aspect may include a location server 230, which may bein communication with the 5GC 210 to provide location assistance forUE(s) 204. The location server 230 can be implemented as a plurality ofseparate servers (e.g., physically separate servers, different softwaremodules on a single server, different software modules spread acrossmultiple physical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond toa single server. The location server 230 can be configured to supportone or more location services for UEs 204 that can connect to thelocation server 230 via the core network, 5GC 210, and/or via theInternet (not illustrated). Further, the location server 230 may beintegrated into a component of the core network, or alternatively may beexternal to the core network (e.g., a third party server, such as anoriginal equipment manufacturer (OEM) server or service server).

FIG. 2B illustrates another example wireless network structure 250. A5GC 260 (which may correspond to 5GC 210 in FIG. 2A) can be viewedfunctionally as control plane functions, provided by an access andmobility management function (AMF) 264, and user plane functions,provided by a user plane function (UPF) 262, which operate cooperativelyto form the core network (i.e., 5GC 260). The functions of the AMF 264include registration management, connection management, reachabilitymanagement, mobility management, lawful interception, transport forsession management (SM) messages between one or more UEs 204 (e.g., anyof the UEs described herein) and a session management function (SMF)266, transparent proxy services for routing SM messages, accessauthentication and access authorization, transport for short messageservice (SMS) messages between the UE 204 and the short message servicefunction (SMSF) (not shown), and security anchor functionality (SEAF).The AMF 264 also interacts with an authentication server function (AUSF)(not shown) and the UE 204, and receives the intermediate key that wasestablished as a result of the UE 204 authentication process. In thecase of authentication based on a UMTS (universal mobiletelecommunications system) subscriber identity module (USIM), the AMF264 retrieves the security material from the AUSF. The functions of theAMF 264 also include security context management (SCM). The SCM receivesa key from the SEAF that it uses to derive access-network specific keys.The functionality of the AMF 264 also includes location servicesmanagement for regulatory services, transport for location servicesmessages between the UE 204 and a location management function (LMF) 270(which acts as a location server 230), transport for location servicesmessages between the NG-RAN 220 and the LMF 270, evolved packet system(EPS) bearer identifier allocation for interworking with the EPS, and UE204 mobility event notification. In addition, the AMF 264 also supportsfunctionalities for non-3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project)access networks.

Functions of the UPF 262 include acting as an anchor point forintra-/inter-RAT mobility (when applicable), acting as an externalprotocol data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to a data network(not shown), providing packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection,user plane policy rule enforcement (e.g., gating, redirection, trafficsteering), lawful interception (user plane collection), traffic usagereporting, quality of service (QoS) handling for the user plane (e.g.,uplink/downlink rate enforcement, reflective QoS marking in thedownlink), uplink traffic verification (service data flow (SDF) to QoSflow mapping), transport level packet marking in the uplink anddownlink, downlink packet buffering and downlink data notificationtriggering, and sending and forwarding of one or more “end markers” tothe source RAN node. The UPF 262 may also support transfer of locationservices messages over a user plane between the UE 204 and a locationserver, such as an SLP 272.

The functions of the SMF 266 include session management, UE Internetprotocol (IP) address allocation and management, selection and controlof user plane functions, configuration of traffic steering at the UPF262 to route traffic to the proper destination, control of part ofpolicy enforcement and QoS, and downlink data notification. Theinterface over which the SMF 266 communicates with the AMF 264 isreferred to as the N11 interface.

Another optional aspect may include an LMF 270, which may be incommunication with the 5GC 260 to provide location assistance for UEs204. The LMF 270 can be implemented as a plurality of separate servers(e.g., physically separate servers, different software modules on asingle server, different software modules spread across multiplephysical servers, etc.), or alternately may each correspond to a singleserver. The LMF 270 can be configured to support one or more locationservices for UEs 204 that can connect to the LMF 270 via the corenetwork, 5GC 260, and/or via the Internet (not illustrated). The SLP 272may support similar functions to the LMF 270, but whereas the LMF 270may communicate with the AMF 264, NG-RAN 220, and UEs 204 over a controlplane (e.g., using interfaces and protocols intended to convey signalingmessages and not voice or data), the SLP 272 may communicate with UEs204 and external clients (not shown in FIG. 2B) over a user plane (e.g.,using protocols intended to carry voice and/or data like thetransmission control protocol (TCP) and/or IP).

User plane interface 263 and control plane interface 265 connect the 5GC260, and specifically the UPF 262 and AMF 264, respectively, to one ormore gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 in the NG-RAN 220. The interfacebetween gNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 and the AMF 264 is referred toas the “N2” interface, and the interface between gNB(s) 222 and/orng-eNB(s) 224 and the UPF 262 is referred to as the “N3” interface. ThegNB(s) 222 and/or ng-eNB(s) 224 of the NG-RAN 220 may communicatedirectly with each other via backhaul connections 223, referred to asthe “Xn-C” interface. One or more of gNBs 222 and/or ng-eNBs 224 maycommunicate with one or more UEs 204 over a wireless interface, referredto as the “Uu” interface.

The functionality of a gNB 222 is divided between a gNB central unit(gNB-CU) 226 and one or more gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) 228. Theinterface 232 between the gNB-CU 226 and the one or more gNB-DUs 228 isreferred to as the “F1” interface. A gNB-CU 226 is a logical node thatincludes the base station functions of transferring user data, mobilitycontrol, radio access network sharing, positioning, session management,and the like, except for those functions allocated exclusively to thegNB-DU(s) 228. More specifically, the gNB-CU 226 hosts the radioresource control (RRC), service data adaptation protocol (SDAP), andpacket data convergence protocol (PDCP) protocols of the gNB 222. AgNB-DU 228 is a logical node that hosts the radio link control (RLC),medium access control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers of the gNB 222.Its operation is controlled by the gNB-CU 226. One gNB-DU 228 cansupport one or more cells, and one cell is supported by only one gNB-DU228. Thus, a UE 204 communicates with the gNB-CU 226 via the RRC, SDAP,and PDCP layers and with a gNB-DU 228 via the RLC, MAC, and PHY layers.

FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C illustrate several example components (representedby corresponding blocks) that may be incorporated into a UE 302 (whichmay correspond to any of the UEs described herein), a base station 304(which may correspond to any of the base stations described herein), anda network entity 306 (which may correspond to or embody any of thenetwork functions described herein, including the location server 230and the LMF 270, or alternatively may be independent from the NG-RAN 220and/or 5GC 210/260 infrastructure depicted in FIGS. 2A and 2B, such as aprivate network) to support the file transmission operations as taughtherein. It will be appreciated that these components may be implementedin different types of apparatuses in different implementations (e.g., inan ASIC, in a system-on-chip (SoC), etc.). The illustrated componentsmay also be incorporated into other apparatuses in a communicationsystem. For example, other apparatuses in a system may includecomponents similar to those described to provide similar functionality.Also, a given apparatus may contain one or more of the components. Forexample, an apparatus may include multiple transceiver components thatenable the apparatus to operate on multiple carriers and/or communicatevia different technologies.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each include one or more wirelesswide area network (WWAN) transceivers 310 and 350, respectively,providing means for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, meansfor receiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means forrefraining from transmitting, etc.) via one or more wirelesscommunication networks (not shown), such as an NR network, an LTEnetwork, a GSM network, and/or the like. The WWAN transceivers 310 and350 may each be connected to one or more antennas 316 and 356,respectively, for communicating with other network nodes, such as otherUEs, access points, base stations (e.g., eNBs, gNBs), etc., via at leastone designated RAT (e.g., NR, LTE, GSM, etc.) over a wirelesscommunication medium of interest (e.g., some set of time/frequencyresources in a particular frequency spectrum). The WWAN transceivers 310and 350 may be variously configured for transmitting and encodingsignals 318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, and soon), respectively, and, conversely, for receiving and decoding signals318 and 358 (e.g., messages, indications, information, pilots, and soon), respectively, in accordance with the designated RAT. Specifically,the WWAN transceivers 310 and 350 include one or more transmitters 314and 354, respectively, for transmitting and encoding signals 318 and358, respectively, and one or more receivers 312 and 352, respectively,for receiving and decoding signals 318 and 358, respectively.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 each also include, at least in somecases, one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360,respectively. The short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360 may beconnected to one or more antennas 326 and 366, respectively, and providemeans for communicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means forreceiving, means for measuring, means for tuning, means for refrainingfrom transmitting, etc.) with other network nodes, such as other UEs,access points, base stations, etc., via at least one designated RAT(e.g., WiFi, LTE-D, Bluetooth®, Zigbee®, Z-Wave®, PC5, dedicatedshort-range communications (DSRC), wireless access for vehicularenvironments (WAVE), near-field communication (NFC), etc.) over awireless communication medium of interest. The short-range wirelesstransceivers 320 and 360 may be variously configured for transmittingand encoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications,information, and so on), respectively, and, conversely, for receivingand decoding signals 328 and 368 (e.g., messages, indications,information, pilots, and so on), respectively, in accordance with thedesignated RAT. Specifically, the short-range wireless transceivers 320and 360 include one or more transmitters 324 and 364, respectively, fortransmitting and encoding signals 328 and 368, respectively, and one ormore receivers 322 and 362, respectively, for receiving and decodingsignals 328 and 368, respectively. As specific examples, the short-rangewireless transceivers 320 and 360 may be WiFi transceivers, Bluetooth®transceivers, Zigbee® and/or Z-Wave® transceivers, NFC transceivers, orvehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) and/or vehicle-to-everything (V2X)transceivers.

The UE 302 and the base station 304 also include, at least in somecases, satellite signal receivers 330 and 370. The satellite signalreceivers 330 and 370 may be connected to one or more antennas 336 and376, respectively, and may provide means for receiving and/or measuringsatellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378, respectively.Where the satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 are satellitepositioning system receivers, the satellite positioning/communicationsignals 338 and 378 may be global positioning system (GPS) signals,global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) signals, Galileo signals,Beidou signals, Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (NAVIC),Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), etc. Where the satellite signalreceivers 330 and 370 are non-terrestrial network (NTN) receivers, thesatellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378 may becommunication signals (e.g., carrying control and/or user data)originating from a 5G network. The satellite signal receivers 330 and370 may comprise any suitable hardware and/or software for receiving andprocessing satellite positioning/communication signals 338 and 378,respectively. The satellite signal receivers 330 and 370 may requestinformation and operations as appropriate from the other systems, and,at least in some cases, perform calculations to determine locations ofthe UE 302 and the base station 304, respectively, using measurementsobtained by any suitable satellite positioning system algorithm.

The base station 304 and the network entity 306 each include one or morenetwork transceivers 380 and 390, respectively, providing means forcommunicating (e.g., means for transmitting, means for receiving, etc.)with other network entities (e.g., other base stations 304, othernetwork entities 306). For example, the base station 304 may employ theone or more network transceivers 380 to communicate with other basestations 304 or network entities 306 over one or more wired or wirelessbackhaul links. As another example, the network entity 306 may employthe one or more network transceivers 390 to communicate with one or morebase station 304 over one or more wired or wireless backhaul links, orwith other network entities 306 over one or more wired or wireless corenetwork interfaces.

A transceiver may be configured to communicate over a wired or wirelesslink. A transceiver (whether a wired transceiver or a wirelesstransceiver) includes transmitter circuitry (e.g., transmitters 314,324, 354, 364) and receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352,362). A transceiver may be an integrated device (e.g., embodyingtransmitter circuitry and receiver circuitry in a single device) in someimplementations, may comprise separate transmitter circuitry andseparate receiver circuitry in some implementations, or may be embodiedin other ways in other implementations. The transmitter circuitry andreceiver circuitry of a wired transceiver (e.g., network transceivers380 and 390 in some implementations) may be coupled to one or more wirednetwork interface ports. Wireless transmitter circuitry (e.g.,transmitters 314, 324, 354, 364) may include or be coupled to aplurality of antennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as anantenna array, that permits the respective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, basestation 304) to perform transmit “beamforming,” as described herein.Similarly, wireless receiver circuitry (e.g., receivers 312, 322, 352,362) may include or be coupled to a plurality of antennas (e.g.,antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such as an antenna array, that permits therespective apparatus (e.g., UE 302, base station 304) to perform receivebeamforming, as described herein. In an aspect, the transmittercircuitry and receiver circuitry may share the same plurality ofantennas (e.g., antennas 316, 326, 356, 366), such that the respectiveapparatus can only receive or transmit at a given time, not both at thesame time. A wireless transceiver (e.g., WWAN transceivers 310 and 350,short-range wireless transceivers 320 and 360) may also include anetwork listen module (NLM) or the like for performing variousmeasurements.

As used herein, the various wireless transceivers (e.g., transceivers310, 320, 350, and 360, and network transceivers 380 and 390 in someimplementations) and wired transceivers (e.g., network transceivers 380and 390 in some implementations) may generally be characterized as “atransceiver,” “at least one transceiver,” or “one or more transceivers.”As such, whether a particular transceiver is a wired or wirelesstransceiver may be inferred from the type of communication performed.For example, backhaul communication between network devices or serverswill generally relate to signaling via a wired transceiver, whereaswireless communication between a UE (e.g., UE 302) and a base station(e.g., base station 304) will generally relate to signaling via awireless transceiver.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 alsoinclude other components that may be used in conjunction with theoperations as disclosed herein. The UE 302, the base station 304, andthe network entity 306 include one or more processors 332, 384, and 394,respectively, for providing functionality relating to, for example,wireless communication, and for providing other processingfunctionality. The processors 332, 384, and 394 may therefore providemeans for processing, such as means for determining, means forcalculating, means for receiving, means for transmitting, means forindicating, etc. In an aspect, the processors 332, 384, and 394 mayinclude, for example, one or more general purpose processors, multi-coreprocessors, central processing units (CPUs), ASICs, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), otherprogrammable logic devices or processing circuitry, or variouscombinations thereof.

The UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306 includememory circuitry implementing memories 340, 386, and 396 (e.g., eachincluding a memory device), respectively, for maintaining information(e.g., information indicative of reserved resources, thresholds,parameters, and so on). The memories 340, 386, and 396 may thereforeprovide means for storing, means for retrieving, means for maintaining,etc. In some cases, the UE 302, the base station 304, and the networkentity 306 may include positioning component 342, 388, and 398,respectively. The positioning component 342, 388, and 398 may behardware circuits that are part of or coupled to the processors 332,384, and 394, respectively, that, when executed, cause the UE 302, thebase station 304, and the network entity 306 to perform thefunctionality described herein. In other aspects, the positioningcomponent 342, 388, and 398 may be external to the processors 332, 384,and 394 (e.g., part of a modem processing system, integrated withanother processing system, etc.). Alternatively, the positioningcomponent 342, 388, and 398 may be memory modules stored in the memories340, 386, and 396, respectively, that, when executed by the processors332, 384, and 394 (or a modem processing system, another processingsystem, etc.), cause the UE 302, the base station 304, and the networkentity 306 to perform the functionality described herein. FIG. 3Aillustrates possible locations of the positioning component 342, whichmay be, for example, part of the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, thememory 340, the one or more processors 332, or any combination thereof,or may be a standalone component. FIG. 3B illustrates possible locationsof the positioning component 388, which may be, for example, part of theone or more WWAN transceivers 350, the memory 386, the one or moreprocessors 384, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalonecomponent. FIG. 3C illustrates possible locations of the positioningcomponent 398, which may be, for example, part of the one or morenetwork transceivers 390, the memory 396, the one or more processors394, or any combination thereof, or may be a standalone component.

The UE 302 may include one or more sensors 344 coupled to the one ormore processors 332 to provide means for sensing or detecting movementand/or orientation information that is independent of motion dataderived from signals received by the one or more WWAN transceivers 310,the one or more short-range wireless transceivers 320, and/or thesatellite signal receiver 330. By way of example, the sensor(s) 344 mayinclude an accelerometer (e.g., a micro-electrical mechanical systems(MEMS) device), a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor (e.g., a compass), analtimeter (e.g., a barometric pressure altimeter), and/or any other typeof movement detection sensor. Moreover, the sensor(s) 344 may include aplurality of different types of devices and combine their outputs inorder to provide motion information. For example, the sensor(s) 344 mayuse a combination of a multi-axis accelerometer and orientation sensorsto provide the ability to compute positions in two-dimensional (2D)and/or three-dimensional (3D) coordinate systems.

In addition, the UE 302 includes a user interface 346 providing meansfor providing indications (e.g., audible and/or visual indications) to auser and/or for receiving user input (e.g., upon user actuation of asensing device such a keypad, a touch screen, a microphone, and so on).Although not shown, the base station 304 and the network entity 306 mayalso include user interfaces.

Referring to the one or more processors 384 in more detail, in thedownlink, IP packets from the network entity 306 may be provided to theprocessor 384. The one or more processors 384 may implementfunctionality for an RRC layer, a packet data convergence protocol(PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium accesscontrol (MAC) layer. The one or more processors 384 may provide RRClayer functionality associated with broadcasting of system information(e.g., master information block (MIB), system information blocks(SIBs)), RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRCconnection establishment, RRC connection modification, and RRCconnection release), inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configurationfor UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionality associated withheader compression/decompression, security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification), and handover supportfunctions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transfer of upperlayer PDUs, error correction through automatic repeat request (ARQ),concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units(SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC dataPDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping betweenlogical channels and transport channels, scheduling informationreporting, error correction, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

The transmitter 354 and the receiver 352 may implement Layer-1 (L1)functionality associated with various signal processing functions.Layer-1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer, may include errordetection on the transport channels, forward error correction (FEC)coding/decoding of the transport channels, interleaving, rate matching,mapping onto physical channels, modulation/demodulation of physicalchannels, and MIMO antenna processing. The transmitter 354 handlesmapping to signal constellations based on various modulation schemes(e.g., binary phase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying(QPSK), M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an orthogonalfrequency division multiplexing (OFDM) subcarrier, multiplexed with areference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/or frequency domain, andthen combined together using an inverse fast Fourier transform (IFFT) toproduce a physical channel carrying a time domain OFDM symbol stream.The OFDM symbol stream is spatially precoded to produce multiple spatialstreams. Channel estimates from a channel estimator may be used todetermine the coding and modulation scheme, as well as for spatialprocessing. The channel estimate may be derived from a reference signaland/or channel condition feedback transmitted by the UE 302. Eachspatial stream may then be provided to one or more different antennas356. The transmitter 354 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

At the UE 302, the receiver 312 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 316. The receiver 312 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors332. The transmitter 314 and the receiver 312 implement Layer-1functionality associated with various signal processing functions. Thereceiver 312 may perform spatial processing on the information torecover any spatial streams destined for the UE 302. If multiple spatialstreams are destined for the UE 302, they may be combined by thereceiver 312 into a single OFDM symbol stream. The receiver 312 thenconverts the OFDM symbol stream from the time-domain to the frequencydomain using a fast Fourier transform (FFT). The frequency domain signalcomprises a separate OFDM symbol stream for each subcarrier of the OFDMsignal. The symbols on each subcarrier, and the reference signal, arerecovered and demodulated by determining the most likely signalconstellation points transmitted by the base station 304. These softdecisions may be based on channel estimates computed by a channelestimator. The soft decisions are then decoded and de-interleaved torecover the data and control signals that were originally transmitted bythe base station 304 on the physical channel. The data and controlsignals are then provided to the one or more processors 332, whichimplements Layer-3 (L3) and Layer-2 (L2) functionality.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 332 provides demultiplexingbetween transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering,header decompression, and control signal processing to recover IPpackets from the core network. The one or more processors 332 are alsoresponsible for error detection.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the downlinktransmission by the base station 304, the one or more processors 332provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information(e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionalityassociated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs,re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto transport blocks(TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling informationreporting, error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request(HARQ), priority handling, and logical channel prioritization.

Channel estimates derived by the channel estimator from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 304 may be used bythe transmitter 314 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the transmitter 314 may be provided to different antenna(s)316. The transmitter 314 may modulate an RF carrier with a respectivespatial stream for transmission.

The uplink transmission is processed at the base station 304 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 302. The receiver 352 receives a signal through its respectiveantenna(s) 356. The receiver 352 recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to the one or more processors384.

In the uplink, the one or more processors 384 provides demultiplexingbetween transport and logical channels, packet reassembly, deciphering,header decompression, control signal processing to recover IP packetsfrom the UE 302. IP packets from the one or more processors 384 may beprovided to the core network. The one or more processors 384 are alsoresponsible for error detection.

For convenience, the UE 302, the base station 304, and/or the networkentity 306 are shown in FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C as including variouscomponents that may be configured according to the various examplesdescribed herein. It will be appreciated, however, that the illustratedcomponents may have different functionality in different designs. Inparticular, various components in FIGS. 3A to 3C are optional inalternative configurations and the various aspects includeconfigurations that may vary due to design choice, costs, use of thedevice, or other considerations. For example, in case of FIG. 3A, aparticular implementation of UE 302 may omit the WWAN transceiver(s) 310(e.g., a wearable device or tablet computer or PC or laptop may haveWi-Fi and/or Bluetooth capability without cellular capability), or mayomit the short-range wireless transceiver(s) 320 (e.g., cellular-only,etc.), or may omit the satellite signal receiver 330, or may omit thesensor(s) 344, and so on. In another example, in case of FIG. 3B, aparticular implementation of the base station 304 may omit the WWANtransceiver(s) 350 (e.g., a Wi-Fi “hotspot” access point withoutcellular capability), or may omit the short-range wirelesstransceiver(s) 360 (e.g., cellular-only, etc.), or may omit thesatellite receiver 370, and so on. For brevity, illustration of thevarious alternative configurations is not provided herein, but would bereadily understandable to one skilled in the art.

The various components of the UE 302, the base station 304, and thenetwork entity 306 may be communicatively coupled to each other overdata buses 334, 382, and 392, respectively. In an aspect, the data buses334, 382, and 392 may form, or be part of, a communication interface ofthe UE 302, the base station 304, and the network entity 306,respectively. For example, where different logical entities are embodiedin the same device (e.g., gNB and location server functionalityincorporated into the same base station 304), the data buses 334, 382,and 392 may provide communication between them.

The components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3C may be implemented in variousways. In some implementations, the components of FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 3Cmay be implemented in one or more circuits such as, for example, one ormore processors and/or one or more ASICs (which may include one or moreprocessors). Here, each circuit may use and/or incorporate at least onememory component for storing information or executable code used by thecircuit to provide this functionality. For example, some or all of thefunctionality represented by blocks 310 to 346 may be implemented byprocessor and memory component(s) of the UE 302 (e.g., by execution ofappropriate code and/or by appropriate configuration of processorcomponents). Similarly, some or all of the functionality represented byblocks 350 to 388 may be implemented by processor and memorycomponent(s) of the base station 304 (e.g., by execution of appropriatecode and/or by appropriate configuration of processor components). Also,some or all of the functionality represented by blocks 390 to 398 may beimplemented by processor and memory component(s) of the network entity306 (e.g., by execution of appropriate code and/or by appropriateconfiguration of processor components). For simplicity, variousoperations, acts, and/or functions are described herein as beingperformed “by a UE,” “by a base station,” “by a network entity,” etc.However, as will be appreciated, such operations, acts, and/or functionsmay actually be performed by specific components or combinations ofcomponents of the UE 302, base station 304, network entity 306, etc.,such as the processors 332, 384, 394, the transceivers 310, 320, 350,and 360, the memories 340, 386, and 396, the positioning component 342,388, and 398, etc.

In some designs, the network entity 306 may be implemented as a corenetwork component. In other designs, the network entity 306 may bedistinct from a network operator or operation of the cellular networkinfrastructure (e.g., NG RAN 220 and/or 5GC 210/260). For example, thenetwork entity 306 may be a component of a private network that may beconfigured to communicate with the UE 302 via the base station 304 orindependently from the base station 304 (e.g., over a non-cellularcommunication link, such as WiFi).

Various frame structures may be used to support downlink and uplinktransmissions between network nodes (e.g., base stations and UEs). FIG.4 is a diagram 400 illustrating an example frame structure, according toaspects of the disclosure. Other wireless communications technologiesmay have different frame structures and/or different channels.

LTE, and in some cases NR, utilizes OFDM on the downlink andsingle-carrier frequency division multiplexing (SC-FDM) on the uplink.Unlike LTE, however, NR has an option to use OFDM on the uplink as well.OFDM and SC-FDM partition the system bandwidth into multiple (K)orthogonal subcarriers, which are also commonly referred to as tones,bins, etc. Each subcarrier may be modulated with data. In general,modulation symbols are sent in the frequency domain with OFDM and in thetime domain with SC-FDM. The spacing between adjacent subcarriers may befixed, and the total number of subcarriers (K) may be dependent on thesystem bandwidth. For example, the spacing of the Subcarriers may be 15kilohertz (kHz) and the minimum resource allocation (resource block) maybe 12 subcarriers (or 180 kHz). Consequently, the nominal FFT size maybe equal to 128, 256, 512, 1024, or 2048 for system bandwidth of 1.25,2.5, 5, 10, or 20 megahertz (MHz), respectively. The system bandwidthmay also be partitioned into subbands. For example, a subband may cover1.08 MHz (i.e., 6 resource blocks), and there may be 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16subbands for system bandwidth of 1.25, 2.5, 5, 10, or 20 MHz,respectively.

LTE supports a single numerology (subcarrier spacing (SCS), symbollength, etc.). In contrast, NR may support multiple numerologies (μ),for example, subcarrier spacings of 15 kHz (μ=0), 30 kHz (μ=1), 60 kHz(μ=2), 120 kHz (μ=3), and 240 kHz (μ=4) or greater may be available. Ineach subcarrier spacing, there are 14 symbols per slot. For 15 kHz SCS(μ=0), there is one slot per subframe, 10 slots per frame, the slotduration is 1 millisecond (ms), the symbol duration is 66.7 microseconds(μs), and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFTsize is 50. For 30 kHz SCS (μ=1), there are two slots per subframe, 20slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.5 ms, the symbol duration is33.3 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFTsize is 100. For 60 kHz SCS (μ=2), there are four slots per subframe, 40slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.25 ms, the symbol duration is16.7 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4K FFTsize is 200. For 120 kHz SCS (μ=3), there are eight slots per subframe,80 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.125 ms, the symbol durationis 8.33 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4KFFT size is 400. For 240 kHz SCS (μ=4), there are 16 slots per subframe,160 slots per frame, the slot duration is 0.0625 ms, the symbol durationis 4.17 μs, and the maximum nominal system bandwidth (in MHz) with a 4KFFT size is 800.

In the example of FIG. 4 , a numerology of 15 kHz is used. Thus, in thetime domain, a 10 ms frame is divided into 10 equally sized subframes of1 ms each, and each subframe includes one time slot. In FIG. 4 , time isrepresented horizontally (on the X axis) with time increasing from leftto right, while frequency is represented vertically (on the Y axis) withfrequency increasing (or decreasing) from bottom to top.

A resource grid may be used to represent time slots, each time slotincluding one or more time-concurrent resource blocks (RBs) (alsoreferred to as physical RBs (PRBs)) in the frequency domain. Theresource grid is further divided into multiple resource elements (REs).An RE may correspond to one symbol length in the time domain and onesubcarrier in the frequency domain. In the numerology of FIG. 4 , for anormal cyclic prefix, an RB may contain 12 consecutive subcarriers inthe frequency domain and seven consecutive symbols in the time domain,for a total of 84 REs. For an extended cyclic prefix, an RB may contain12 consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain and six consecutivesymbols in the time domain, for a total of 72 REs. The number of bitscarried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

Some of the REs may carry reference (pilot) signals (RS). The referencesignals may include positioning reference signals (PRS), trackingreference signals (TRS), phase tracking reference signals (PTRS),cell-specific reference signals (CRS), channel state informationreference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS),primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals(SSS), synchronization signal blocks (SSBs), sounding reference signals(SRS), etc., depending on whether the illustrated frame structure isused for uplink or downlink communication. FIG. 4 illustrates examplelocations of REs carrying reference signals (labeled “R”).

A collection of resource elements (REs) that are used for transmissionof PRS is referred to as a “PRS resource.” The collection of resourceelements can span multiple PRBs in the frequency domain and ‘N’ (such as1 or more) consecutive symbol(s) within a slot in the time domain. In agiven OFDM symbol in the time domain, a PRS resource occupiesconsecutive PRBs in the frequency domain.

The transmission of a PRS resource within a given PRB has a particularcomb size (also referred to as the “comb density”). A comb size ‘N’represents the subcarrier spacing (or frequency/tone spacing) withineach symbol of a PRS resource configuration. Specifically, for a combsize ‘N,’ PRS are transmitted in every Nth subcarrier of a symbol of aPRB. For example, for comb-4, for each symbol of the PRS resourceconfiguration, REs corresponding to every fourth subcarrier (such assubcarriers 0, 4, 8) are used to transmit PRS of the PRS resource.Currently, comb sizes of comb-2, comb-4, comb-6, and comb-12 aresupported for DL-PRS. FIG. 4 illustrates an example PRS resourceconfiguration for comb-6 (which spans six symbols). That is, thelocations of the shaded REs (labeled “R”) indicate a comb-6 PRS resourceconfiguration.

Currently, a DL-PRS resource may span 2, 4, 6, or 12 consecutive symbolswithin a slot with a fully frequency-domain staggered pattern. A DL-PRSresource can be configured in any higher layer configured downlink orflexible (FL) symbol of a slot. There may be a constant energy perresource element (EPRE) for all REs of a given DL-PRS resource. Thefollowing are the frequency offsets from symbol to symbol for comb sizes2, 4, 6, and 12 over 2, 4, 6, and 12 symbols. 2-symbol comb-2: {0, 1};4-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1}; 6-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1};12-symbol comb-2: {0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1, 0, 1}; 4-symbol comb-4:{0, 2, 1, 3}; 12-symbol comb-4: {0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3, 0, 2, 1, 3};6-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; 12-symbol comb-6: {0, 3, 1, 4, 2,5, 0, 3, 1, 4, 2, 5}; and 12-symbol comb-12: {0, 6, 3, 9, 1, 7, 4, 10,2, 8, 5, 11}.

A “PRS resource set” is a set of PRS resources used for the transmissionof PRS signals, where each PRS resource has a PRS resource ID. Inaddition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set are associated withthe same TRP. A PRS resource set is identified by a PRS resource set IDand is associated with a particular TRP (identified by a TRP ID). Inaddition, the PRS resources in a PRS resource set have the sameperiodicity, a common muting pattern configuration, and the samerepetition factor (such as “PRS-ResourceRepetitionFactor”) across slots.The periodicity is the time from the first repetition of the first PRSresource of a first PRS instance to the same first repetition of thesame first PRS resource of the next PRS instance. The periodicity mayhave a length selected from 2{circumflex over ( )}μ*{4, 5, 8, 10, 16,20, 32, 40, 64, 80, 160, 320, 640, 1280, 2560, 5120, 10240} slots, withμ=0, 1, 2, 3. The repetition factor may have a length selected from {1,2, 4, 6, 8, 16, 32} slots.

A PRS resource ID in a PRS resource set is associated with a single beam(or beam ID) transmitted from a single TRP (where a TRP may transmit oneor more beams). That is, each PRS resource of a PRS resource set may betransmitted on a different beam, and as such, a “PRS resource,” orsimply “resource,” also can be referred to as a “beam.” Note that thisdoes not have any implications on whether the TRPs and the beams onwhich PRS are transmitted are known to the UE.

A “PRS instance” or “PRS occasion” is one instance of a periodicallyrepeated time window (such as a group of one or more consecutive slots)where PRS are expected to be transmitted. A PRS occasion also may bereferred to as a “PRS positioning occasion,” a “PRS positioninginstance, a “positioning occasion,” “a positioning instance,” a“positioning repetition,” or simply an “occasion,” an “instance,” or a“repetition.”

A “positioning frequency layer” (also referred to simply as a “frequencylayer”) is a collection of one or more PRS resource sets across one ormore TRPs that have the same values for certain parameters.Specifically, the collection of PRS resource sets has the samesubcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix (CP) type (meaning all numerologiessupported for the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) are alsosupported for PRS), the same Point A, the same value of the downlink PRSbandwidth, the same start PRB (and center frequency), and the samecomb-size. The Point A parameter takes the value of the parameter“ARFCN-ValueNR” (where “ARFCN” stands for “absolute radio-frequencychannel number”) and is an identifier/code that specifies a pair ofphysical radio channel used for transmission and reception. The downlinkPRS bandwidth may have a granularity of four PRBs, with a minimum of 24PRBs and a maximum of 272 PRBs. Currently, up to four frequency layershave been defined, and up to two PRS resource sets may be configured perTRP per frequency layer.

The concept of a frequency layer is somewhat like the concept ofcomponent carriers and bandwidth parts (BWPs), but different in thatcomponent carriers and BWPs are used by one base station (or a macrocell base station and a small cell base station) to transmit datachannels, while frequency layers are used by several (usually three ormore) base stations to transmit PRS. A UE may indicate the number offrequency layers it can support when it sends the network itspositioning capabilities, such as during an LTE positioning protocol(LPP) session. For example, a UE may indicate whether it can support oneor four positioning frequency layers.

Note that the terms “positioning reference signal” and “PRS” generallyrefer to specific reference signals that are used for positioning in NRand LTE systems. However, as used herein, the terms “positioningreference signal” and “PRS” may also refer to any type of referencesignal that can be used for positioning, such as but not limited to, PRSas defined in LTE and NR, TRS, PTRS, CRS, CSI-RS, DMRS, PSS, SSS, SSB,SRS, UL-PRS, etc. In addition, the terms “positioning reference signal”and “PRS” may refer to downlink or uplink positioning reference signals,unless otherwise indicated by the context. If needed to furtherdistinguish the type of PRS, a downlink positioning reference signal maybe referred to as a “DL-PRS,” and an uplink positioning reference signal(e.g., an SRS-for-positioning, PTRS) may be referred to as an “UL-PRS.”In addition, for signals that may be transmitted in both the uplink anddownlink (e.g., DMRS, PTRS), the signals may be prepended with “UL” or“DL” to distinguish the direction. For example, “UL-DMRS” may bedifferentiated from “DL-DMRS.”

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an example PRS configuration 500 for the PRStransmissions of a given base station, according to aspects of thedisclosure. In FIG. 5 , time is represented horizontally, increasingfrom left to right. Each long rectangle represents a slot and each short(shaded) rectangle represents an OFDM symbol. In the example of FIG. 5 ,a PRS resource set 510 (labeled “PRS resource set 1”) includes two PRSresources, a first PRS resource 512 (labeled “PRS resource 1”) and asecond PRS resource 514 (labeled “PRS resource 2”). The base stationtransmits PRS on the PRS resources 512 and 514 of the PRS resource set510.

The PRS resource set 510 has an occasion length (N_PRS) of two slots anda periodicity (T_PRS) of, for example, 160 slots or 160 milliseconds(ms) (for 15 kHz subcarrier spacing). As such, both the PRS resources512 and 514 are two consecutive slots in length and repeat every T_PRSslots, starting from the slot in which the first symbol of therespective PRS resource occurs. In the example of FIG. 5 , the PRSresource 512 has a symbol length (N_symb) of two symbols, and the PRSresource 514 has a symbol length (N_symb) of four symbols. The PRSresource 512 and the PRS resource 514 may be transmitted on separatebeams of the same base station.

Each instance of the PRS resource set 510, illustrated as instances 520a, 520 b, and 520 c, includes an occasion of length ‘2’ (i.e., N_PRS=2)for each PRS resource 512, 514 of the PRS resource set. The PRSresources 512 and 514 are repeated every T_PRS slots up to the mutingsequence periodicity T_REP. As such, a bitmap of length T_REP would beneeded to indicate which occasions of instances 520 a, 520 b, and 520 cof PRS resource set 510 are muted (i.e., not transmitted).

In an aspect, there may be additional constraints on the PRSconfiguration 500. For example, for all PRS resources (e.g., PRSresources 512, 514) of a PRS resource set (e.g., PRS resource set 510),the base station can configure the following parameters to be the same:(a) the occasion length (T_PRS), (b) the number of symbols (N_symb), (c)the comb type, and/or (d) the bandwidth. In addition, for all PRSresources of all PRS resource sets, the subcarrier spacing and thecyclic prefix can be configured to be the same for one base station orfor all base stations. Whether it is for one base station or all basestations may depend on the UE's capability to support the first and/orsecond option.

NR supports a number of cellular network-based positioning technologies,including downlink-based, uplink-based, and downlink-and-uplink-basedpositioning methods. Downlink-based positioning methods include observedtime difference of arrival (OTDOA) in LTE, downlink time difference ofarrival (DL-TDOA) in NR, and downlink angle-of-departure (DL-AoD) in NR.In an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, a UE measures thedifferences between the times of arrival (ToAs) of reference signals(e.g., positioning reference signals (PRS)) received from pairs of basestations, referred to as reference signal time difference (RSTD) or timedifference of arrival (TDOA) measurements, and reports them to apositioning entity. More specifically, the UE receives the identifiers(IDs) of a reference base station (e.g., a serving base station) andmultiple non-reference base stations in assistance data. The UE thenmeasures the RSTD between the reference base station and each of thenon-reference base stations. Based on the known locations of theinvolved base stations and the RSTD measurements, the positioning entitycan estimate the UE's location.

For DL-AoD positioning, the positioning entity uses a beam report fromthe UE of received signal strength measurements of multiple downlinktransmit beams to determine the angle(s) between the UE and thetransmitting base station(s). The positioning entity can then estimatethe location of the UE based on the determined angle(s) and the knownlocation(s) of the transmitting base station(s).

Uplink-based positioning methods include uplink time difference ofarrival (UL-TDOA) and uplink angle-of-arrival (UL-AoA). UL-TDOA issimilar to DL-TDOA, but is based on uplink reference signals (e.g.,sounding reference signals (SRS)) transmitted by the UE. For UL-AoApositioning, one or more base stations measure the received signalstrength of one or more uplink reference signals (e.g., SRS) receivedfrom a UE on one or more uplink receive beams. The positioning entityuses the signal strength measurements and the angle(s) of the receivebeam(s) to determine the angle(s) between the UE and the basestation(s). Based on the determined angle(s) and the known location(s)of the base station(s), the positioning entity can then estimate thelocation of the UE.

Downlink-and-uplink-based positioning methods include enhanced cell-ID(E-CID) positioning and multi-round-trip-time (RTT) positioning (alsoreferred to as “multi-cell RTT”). In an RTT procedure, an initiator (abase station or a UE) transmits an RTT measurement signal (e.g., a PRSor SRS) to a responder (a UE or base station), which transmits an RTTresponse signal (e.g., an SRS or PRS) back to the initiator. The RTTresponse signal includes the difference between the ToA of the RTTmeasurement signal and the transmission time of the RTT response signal,referred to as the reception-to-transmission (Rx-Tx) time difference.The initiator calculates the difference between the transmission time ofthe RTT measurement signal and the ToA of the RTT response signal,referred to as the transmission-to-reception (Tx-Rx) time difference.The propagation time (also referred to as the “time of flight”) betweenthe initiator and the responder can be calculated from the Tx-Rx andRx-Tx time differences. Based on the propagation time and the knownspeed of light, the distance between the initiator and the responder canbe determined. For multi-RTT positioning, a UE performs an RTT procedurewith multiple base stations to enable its location to be determined(e.g., using multilateration) based on the known locations of the basestations. RTT and multi-RTT methods can be combined with otherpositioning techniques, such as UL-AoA and DL-AoD, to improve locationaccuracy.

The E-CID positioning method is based on radio resource management (RRM)measurements. In E-CID, the UE reports the serving cell ID, the timingadvance (TA), and the identifiers, estimated timing, and signal strengthof detected neighbor base stations. The location of the UE is thenestimated based on this information and the known locations of the basestation(s).

To assist positioning operations, a location server (e.g., locationserver 230, LMF 270, SLP 272) may provide assistance data to the UE. Forexample, the assistance data may include identifiers of the basestations (or the cells/TRPs of the base stations) from which to measurereference signals, the reference signal configuration parameters (e.g.,the number of consecutive positioning subframes, periodicity ofpositioning subframes, muting sequence, frequency hopping sequence,reference signal identifier, reference signal bandwidth, etc.), and/orother parameters applicable to the particular positioning method.Alternatively, the assistance data may originate directly from the basestations themselves (e.g., in periodically broadcasted overheadmessages, etc.). In some cases, the UE may be able to detect neighbornetwork nodes itself without the use of assistance data.

In the case of an OTDOA or DL-TDOA positioning procedure, the assistancedata may further include an expected RSTD value and an associateduncertainty, or search window, around the expected RSTD. In some cases,the value range of the expected RSTD may be +/−500 microseconds (μs). Insome cases, when any of the resources used for the positioningmeasurement are in FR1, the value range for the uncertainty of theexpected RSTD may be +/−32 μs. In other cases, when all of the resourcesused for the positioning measurement(s) are in FR2, the value range forthe uncertainty of the expected RSTD may be +/−8 μs.

A location estimate may be referred to by other names, such as aposition estimate, location, position, position fix, fix, or the like. Alocation estimate may be geodetic and comprise coordinates (e.g.,latitude, longitude, and possibly altitude) or may be civic and comprisea street address, postal address, or some other verbal description of alocation. A location estimate may further be defined relative to someother known location or defined in absolute terms (e.g., using latitude,longitude, and possibly altitude). A location estimate may include anexpected error or uncertainty (e.g., by including an area or volumewithin which the location is expected to be included with some specifiedor default level of confidence).

A cellular repeater is used to improve network connectivity. A repeatercommonly includes a donor antenna that receives downlink signals fromnearby base stations and a rebroadcast antenna that transmits thedownlink signals to one or more UEs. On the uplink, the rebroadcastantenna receives uplink signals from the one or more UEs and the donorantenna transmits the signals to the nearby base stations. Repeatercommunication can increase throughput, data rate, and cellular coverage,and is especially beneficial due to its ability to increase thediversity gain in a fading environment.

FIGS. 6A to 6D illustrate the differences between a repeater functionand a relay function, as well as some technical challenges faced byconventional repeater and relay functions. As used herein, the genericterm repeater/relay unit (RU) is used to refer to a network node thatperforms a repeater function, a relay function, or both. Where the RUdoes a particular function, repeater or relay, that will be soindicated.

FIG. 6A shows a repeater function, in which a repeater receives a firstsignal (labeled “X”) from a transmitter node (labeled “N1”) and sends asecond signal (labeled “X′”) to a receiver node (labeled “N2”). In thisscenario, the repeater essentially regenerates the signal X as X′, forexample, by duplicating the tones of X. From a signal processing pointof view, X and X′ would appear the same at the receiver node N2.

In one example, the transmitter node N1 may be a gNB and the receivernode N2 may be a UE, in which case, the connection between the gNB andthe repeater is referred to as a fronthaul link, while the connectionbetween the repeater and the UE is referred to as an access link. Thus,the examples illustrated in FIGS. 6A to 6D are referred to as integratedaccess fronthaul (IAF) networks.

FIG. 6B shows a relay function, in which a relay node receives a firstsignal (labeled “X”) from a transmitter node (labeled “N1”) andgenerates a second signal (labeled “Y”), which carries information aboutor from the first signal X. The relay node does not replicate the tonesof the original signal X, but instead, contains essentially the samecontent as the first signal X, but in a different form (represented as“f(X)”). As a downlink example, signal X may be a front-haul physicaldownlink shared channel (FH-PDSCH) having a payload that carries someinformation (e.g., IQ samples), and signal Y may be a legacy PDSCH thatis generated based upon that information. As an uplink example, signal Xmay be a legacy PUSCH and signal Y may be a FH-PUSCH having a payloadthat carries some information acquired from signal X.

FIG. 6C shows the repeater of FIG. 6A, but with the roles of thetransmitter node X1 and receiver node X2 reversed. Similarly, FIG. 6Dshows the relay of FIG. 6C, but with the roles of the transmitter nodeX1 and receiver node X2 reversed.

A repeater may serve as a PRS transmission point. If a repeater canrepeat (or reflect or relay) a PRS, then the positioning entity can usethe repeater as an anchor (i.e., a transmitter with a known location)for positioning a target UE. FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating awireless environment in which a base station is transmitting PRS to UEsin various geographical areas, according to aspects of the disclosure.Specifically, a base station 702 is transmitting three PRS (labeled“PRS1,” “PRS2,” and “PRS3”) towards a first UE 704-1 (labeled “UE1”) ina first region 710-1 (labeled “Region 1”) on three downlink transmitbeams. The base station 702 is also transmitting four PRS (labeled“PRS4-7”) on a single downlink transmit beam. One of the four PRS(labeled “PRS4”) is configured to cover a second region 710-2 (labeled“Region 2”) having a second UE 704-2 (labeled “UE2”), while the otherthree PRS (labeled “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7”) are configured to cover athird region 710-3 (labeled “Region 3”) having a third UE 704-3 (labeled“UE3”). More specifically, the four PRS are transmitted towards arepeater 720, which is configured to repeat (or reflect or relay)“PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7” towards the third region 710-3 on threedownlink transmit beams. Thus, regions 710-1 and 710-2 are within thedirect coverage area of the base station 702, while region 710-3 is outof direct coverage of the base station 702.

Note that while FIG. 7 illustrates a single UE 704 in each region 710,as will be appreciated, there may be more than one UE 704 in a region710. In addition, while FIG. 7 illustrates the base station 702transmitting seven PRS on four downlink transmit beams, as will beappreciated, there may be more or fewer than seven PRS and more or fewerthan four beams.

The transmission of “PRS5” to “PRS7” from the base station 702 to therepeater 720 causes additional overhead for UE 704-2 in the secondregion 710-2, since the RF resources for that region are occupied by PRStransmission not destined for UEs 704-2 in that region. It would bepreferable if these resources could be used for other purposes, such asdata communication for UE 704-2. Accordingly, it would be beneficial toconfigure the signaling between the base station 702 and the repeater720 so that the base station 702 can reallocate at least a portion ofthe RF resources directed towards the repeater 720 for other purposes.

As a first technique described herein, PRS transmission may be triggeredby the network (e.g., controlling base station or location server). Forthis technique, the repeater is assumed to have its own baseband andtherefore to be able to generate its own waveform (rather than justrepeating a received waveform). In this technique, the base station orpositioning entity (e.g., LMF 270) sends a PRS configuration (e.g., PRSconfiguration 500) to the repeater to enable the repeater to generateits own PRS waveform for the PRS configuration. The PRS configurationtransmission between the base station and the repeater may reuse thesame or similar NR positioning protocol type A (NRPPa) messages that areused between an LMF and a gNB for PRS configuration transmission.

Upon receiving the PRS configuration, the repeater may use its ownbaseband unit to generate the PRS waveform corresponding to the PRSconfiguration (i.e., the physical RF signal corresponding to the logicalPRS configuration). Alternatively, the repeater may be preconfiguredwith one or more PRS waveforms so that the base station (or positioningentity) only needs to select the index value of the PRS waveform(s) tobe transmitted by the repeater. The preconfigured PRS waveform(s) maybebe generated by the base station (or positioning entity) and received atthe repeater via a wireless channel or preloaded when the repeater ismanufactured. Such a preconfiguration may be more beneficial forrepeaters with a more simplified baseband design (e.g., a baseband thatdoes not have the capability of translating a PRS configuration into aPRS waveform).

The base station (or positioning entity) may trigger the repeater totransmit a particular PRS waveform via a control link between the basestation and the repeater. The trigger may include an indicator (ID) ofthe PRS waveform to be transmitted by the repeater. The trigger may alsoinclude a delay timer or counter (in slots, symbols, milliseconds, etc.)the repeater should wait before transmitting the PRS waveform. Thetrigger may also include information about timing error compensation,such as the timing error at the repeater and/or the base station. In anaspect, the timing error compensation may have a finer time granularity(e.g., nanoseconds) than the delay timer/counter.

Thus, with reference to FIG. 7 , rather than transmitting “PRS5,”“PRS6,” and “PRS7” towards the repeater 720, the base station 702 wouldonly need to send a trigger message to the repeater 720 indicating thatthe repeater 720 should transmit “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7.” Asdescribed above, in addition to identifying “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7,”the trigger message may also include a delay timer and/or timing errorcompensation information for each of the PRS to be transmitted. Thedelay timer and/or timing error compensation information may bedifferent for each PRS, apply to all PRS, or apply to groups of PRS.

As a second technique, the base station may use compressed orout-of-band PRS transmission towards a repeater. This way, UEs betweenthe base station and the repeater (e.g., UE 704-2 in the example of FIG.7 ) will not receive, or at least not be able to decode (because theywill not have the necessary configuration information), PRS transmittedfrom the base station to the repeater. For this technique, the repeateris assumed to have sufficient memory to store a received PRS waveformand to apply certain RF operations on the received waveform. In thistechnique, there are various options regarding how the base station cantransmit PRS (i.e., the PRS waveform) to the repeater. As a firstoption, the PRS can be transmitted via out-of-band spectrum (i.e.,frequency spectrum in which PRS are not transmitted). In this option,UEs between the base station and the repeater would not receive the PRS,and the full PRS spectrum would be available for data transmission. As asecond option, the PRS can be transmitted as a compressed waveform. Inthis option, UEs between the base station and the repeater may stilldetect PRS that are not intended for them (but may not be able to decodethe PRS correctly without knowledge of the compression algorithm), butthe PRS would use fewer RF resources, allowing for more datatransmission. As a third option, the PRS waveform can be scrambled. Inthis option, UEs between the base station and the repeater may stilldetect the PRS, but they will not be able to descramble them.

As a fourth option, empty tones (subcarriers) in the staggered PRS combpattern can be removed. FIG. 8A illustrates an example of removing emptytones from PRS, according to aspects of the disclosure. In FIG. 8A, eachblock represents a resource element (RE), and shaded resource elementscarry PRS. As such, the shaded REs may correspond to a PRS resource. Inthe example of FIG. 8A, a PRS resource 810 has a comb-4 comb patternover four symbols. The PRS resource 810 comprises two frequency domainrepetitions, meaning the PRS resource 810 spans eight REs in thefrequency domain. The empty tones in each symbol between the REs of thePRS resource 810 can be removed, resulting in the “compressed” PRSresource 820. Said another way, the staggered REs of the PRS resource810 can be de-staggered, resulting in the PRS resource 820. The PRSresource 820 comprises two frequency domain repetitions of a comb-1pattern over four symbols, resulting in the PRS resource 820 spanningtwo REs in the frequency domain. As shown in FIG. 8A, because the PRSresource 820 only occupies two REs in the frequency domain (instead ofeight as for the PRS resource 810), the remaining REs can be used fordata transmission.

As a fifth option, PRS configured over a larger bandwidth may betransmitted on a small bandwidth but over a longer time. For example,instead of removing only empty tones, as in the fourth option, thebandwidth used can be further reduced at the cost of using more symbols(e.g., the tones carrying PRS in one symbol may be split across two ormore symbols). The resource mapping can be exchanged between the basestation and the repeater in advance through control channels.

In an aspect, for the second technique, the base station can transmitPRS to the repeater using any one of the options described above, or anycombination of the options described above.

For the signaling from the repeater to the UE, there are differentoptions for how the PRS can be transmitted, depending on how the PRS wasreceived from the base station. As a first option, where the PRS wasreceived from the base station out-of-band, the repeater can transmit(repeat/relay) the PRS by shifting the center frequency (CF) of thereceived PRS so that the PRS is in-band (i.e., within the configured PRSbandwidth). As a second option, where the PRS was received from the basestation as a compressed waveform, the repeater can decompress the PRSwaveform (based on assistance data from the base station or the locationserver) and transmit (repeat/relay) the decompressed waveform of thePRS. As a third option, where the PRS was received from the base stationas a scrambled waveform, the repeater can descramble the PRS waveform(based on assistance data from the base station or the location server)and transmit (repeat/relay) the descrambled PRS waveform. As a fourthoption, where the PRS was received from the base station as ade-staggered waveform (as in the example of FIG. 8A), the repeater can“re-stagger” the PRS waveform (i.e., insert the empty tones) andtransmit a staggered PRS waveform. The repeater can “re-stagger” the PRSwaveform based on assistance data from the base station or the locationserver (e.g., the comb pattern of the PRS).

By moving the PRS back in-band, decompressing the PRS waveform,descrambling the PRS waveform, or staggering the PRS waveform, therepeater transmits the PRS the UE(s) in the coverage area of therepeater is/are expecting to receive and measure. That is, the PRSreceived from the repeater will match the PRS configuration (e.g., PRSconfiguration 500) received from the base station or the location serveras assistance data.

With reference to FIG. 7 , the general principle of the fourth optiondescribed above is that “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7” from the base station702 to the repeater 720 use a lower comb pattern (resulting in higherfrequency density), while “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and “PRS7” from the repeater720 to the UE 704-3 use a higher comb (resulting in a lower frequencydensity). In an aspect, the lower comb PRS (here, “PRS5,” “PRS6,” and“PRS7”) can serve UEs in the second region 710-2 as well (here, UE704-2). These “compressed” PRS may have comb patterns that are similarto, but not the same as, the currently defined comb patterns.

FIG. 8B illustrates another example of removing empty tones from PRS,according to aspects of the disclosure. FIG. 8B illustrates the PRSresource 810, which has a comb-4 comb pattern over four symbols. In theexample of FIG. 8B, rather than remove all of the empty tones betweenthe REs of the PRS resource 810, only a subset of the empty REs in eachsymbol are removed (two tones per symbol in FIG. 8B), resulting in a“compressed,” or partially de-staggered, PRS resource 830. The PRSresource 830 has a comb-2 comb over four symbols comb pattern, which issimilar to the currently defined 4-symbol comb-2 comb pattern, exceptthat the RE mapping is different than the currently defined pattern. Asin the example of FIG. 8A, because the PRS resource 830 only occupiesfour REs in the frequency domain (instead of eight as for the PRSresource 810), the remaining REs can be used for data transmission.

Where UEs between a base station and a repeater (e.g., UE 704-2 in thesecond region 710-2) are expected to measure compressed PRS transmittedto the repeater, the UEs need to be configured with assistance data toenable them to receive and decode/measure the PRS. However, because the“compressed” PRS may have comb patterns that are not the same as thecurrently defined comb patterns, new RE mappings would need to bedefined to enable such UEs to receive and decode/measure the PRSproperly.

In an aspect, the positioning entity (e.g., LMF 270) may signal the newPRS configuration to a UE via, for example, LPP. The new PRSconfiguration for PRS resources transmitted to the repeater may specifythe bandwidth and start point of the REs of the PRS resource, the combsize, an indicator of the PRS resource type, and an expected RSTD (ifapplicable). The PRS resource type may be “compressed” or “normal”(indicating a currently supported PRS comb pattern). These parametersmay be provided in higher layer (e.g., LPP) information elements that,for example, specify the frequency layer, the TRP configuration, and/orthe PRS resource set.

Regarding the comb size, the stagger pattern may be defined for aspecific comb size. In addition, the actual bandwidth of the compressedPRS may be derived based on the comb size of the compressed PRStransmitted to the repeater, the comb size of the normal PRS to berepeated/relayed by the repeater, and the PRS bandwidth. For example,the actual bandwidth may be based on the comb size of the PRS from thebase station to the repeater divided by the comb size of the originalPRS multiplied by the PRS bandwidth.

Regarding the expected RSTD, the expected RSTD of the compressed PRSreceived between the base station and the repeater may be different thanthe expected PRS for other PRS from the same base station. Morespecifically, the expected RSTD of the compressed PRS may be earlierthan the expected RSTD of the decompressed PRS transmitted by therepeater. This is to compensate for the internal processing delay of therepeater, which the compressed PRS does not experience but thedecompressed PRS will.

In an aspect, the triggering mechanisms described above with referenceto the first technique described herein may be used to trigger the PRStransmissions described above with reference to the second techniquedescribed herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example method 900 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 900 may beperformed by a repeater (e.g., any of the repeaters described herein).

At 910, the repeater receives, from a network entity (e.g., a basestation or location server), a PRS configuration (e.g., PRSconfiguration 500) or an indicator of the PRS configuration, the PRSconfiguration specifying one or more PRS resources of one or more PRSresource sets. In an aspect, operation 910 may be performed by one ormore WWAN transceivers of the repeater, one or more processors of therepeater, and/or a memory of the repeater, any or all of which may beconsidered means for performing this operation.

At 920, the repeater transmits, to one or more UEs (e.g., any of the UEsdescribed herein), a PRS waveform representing the one or more PRSresources of the one or more PRS resource sets in accordance with thePRS configuration. In an aspect, operation 920 may be performed by oneor more WWAN transceivers of the repeater, one or more processors of therepeater, and/or a memory of the repeater, any or all of which may beconsidered means for performing this operation.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method 1000 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1000 may beperformed by a repeater (e.g., any of the repeaters described herein).

At 1010, the repeater receives, from a base station (e.g., any of thebase stations described herein), one or more PRS resources of one ormore PRS resource sets, wherein the one or more PRS resources arereceived on a bandwidth outside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS,compressed, scrambled, at least partially de-staggered, over a firstbandwidth less than a second bandwidth and a first number of symbolsgreater than a second number of symbols, or any combination thereof toprevent UEs (e.g., any of the UEs described herein) from measuring theone or more PRS resources. In an aspect, operation 1010 may be performedby one or more WWAN transceivers of the repeater, one or more processorsof the repeater, and/or a memory of the repeater, any or all of whichmay be considered means for performing this operation.

At 1020, the repeater transmits the one or more PRS resources to one ormore UEs, wherein the one or more PRS resources are transmitted on thebandwidth allocated for PRS, decompressed, descrambled, staggered, overthe second bandwidth and the second number of symbols, or anycombination thereof to enable the one or more UEs to measure the one ormore PRS resources. In an aspect, operation 1020 may be performed by oneor more WWAN transceivers of the repeater, one or more processors of therepeater, and/or a memory of the repeater, any or all of which may beconsidered means for performing this operation.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example method 1100 of wireless communication,according to aspects of the disclosure. In an aspect, method 1100 may beperformed by a UE (e.g., any of the UEs described herein).

At 1110, the UE receives, from a network entity (e.g., a base station orlocation server), configuration information for one or more PRSresources of a PRS resource set, the configuration information includingat least an indication that the one or more PRS resources are compressedin a frequency domain and a start point of the one or more PRS resourcesin the frequency domain. In an aspect, operation 1110 may be performedby the one or more WWAN transceivers 310, the one or more processors332, memory 340, and/or positioning component 342, any or all of whichmay be considered means for performing this operation.

At 1120, the UE receives, from a base station, the one or more PRSresources based on the configuration information. In an aspect,operation 1120 may be performed by the one or more WWAN transceivers310, the one or more processors 332, memory 340, and/or positioningcomponent 342, any or all of which may be considered means forperforming this operation.

As will be appreciated, a technical advantage of the methods 900 to 1100is increased resource utilization due to compressing PRS transmissionsin the frequency domain.

In the detailed description above it can be seen that different featuresare grouped together in examples. This manner of disclosure should notbe understood as an intention that the example clauses have morefeatures than are explicitly mentioned in each clause. Rather, thevarious aspects of the disclosure may include fewer than all features ofan individual example clause disclosed. Therefore, the following clausesshould hereby be deemed to be incorporated in the description, whereineach clause by itself can stand as a separate example. Although eachdependent clause can refer in the clauses to a specific combination withone of the other clauses, the aspect(s) of that dependent clause are notlimited to the specific combination. It will be appreciated that otherexample clauses can also include a combination of the dependent clauseaspect(s) with the subject matter of any other dependent clause orindependent clause or a combination of any feature with other dependentand independent clauses. The various aspects disclosed herein expresslyinclude these combinations, unless it is explicitly expressed or can bereadily inferred that a specific combination is not intended (e.g.,contradictory aspects, such as defining an element as both an insulatorand a conductor). Furthermore, it is also intended that aspects of aclause can be included in any other independent clause, even if theclause is not directly dependent on the independent clause.

Implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

Clause 1. A method of wireless communication performed by a repeater,comprising:

receiving, from a network entity, a positioning reference signal (PRS)configuration or an indicator of the PRS configuration, the PRSconfiguration specifying one or more PRS resources of one or more PRSresource sets; and transmitting, to one or more user equipments (UEs), aPRS waveform representing the one or more PRS resources of the one ormore PRS resource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.

Clause 2. The method of clause 1, further comprising: generating the PRSwaveform at a baseband unit of the repeater based on reception of thePRS configuration.

Clause 3. The method of clause 1, further comprising: retrieving the PRSwaveform from a memory of the repeater based on reception of theindicator of the PRS configuration.

Clause 4. The method of clause 3, further comprising: receiving the PRSwaveform from a base station; and storing the PRS waveform in the memoryof the repeater, wherein the PRS waveform is associated with theindicator of the PRS configuration in the memory of the repeater.

Clause 5. The method of clause 3, wherein the PRS waveform is preloadedin the memory of the repeater.

Clause 6. The method of any of clauses 1 to 5, further comprising:receiving a delay timer from the network entity, the delay timerindicating an amount of time the repeater is expected to wait betweenreception of the PRS configuration or the indicator of the PRSconfiguration and transmission of the PRS waveform.

Clause 7. The method of clause 6, wherein the amount of time comprises anumber of symbols, slots, subframes, or milliseconds.

Clause 8. The method of any of clauses 1 to 7, further comprising:receiving timing error compensation information indicating a timingerror of the repeater, a timing error of a base station for which therepeater is transmitting the PRS waveform, or both.

Clause 9. The method of any of clauses 1 to 8, wherein receiving the PRSconfiguration or the indicator of the PRS configuration comprises:receiving the PRS configuration; and receiving the indicator of the PRSconfiguration, where reception of the indicator of the PRS configurationtriggers transmission of the PRS waveform.

Clause 10. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein: the networkentity is a location server, and the PRS configuration is received inone or more New Radio positioning protocol type A (NRPPa) messages.

Clause 11. The method of any of clauses 1 to 9, wherein: the networkentity is a base station, and the PRS configuration is received in oneor more radio resource control (RRC) messages.

Clause 12. A method of wireless communication performed by a repeater,comprising:

receiving, from a base station, one or more positioning reference signal(PRS) resources of one or more PRS resource sets, wherein the one ormore PRS resources are received on a bandwidth outside of a bandwidthallocated for PRS, compressed, scrambled, at least partiallyde-staggered, over a first bandwidth less than a second bandwidth and afirst number of symbols greater than a second number of symbols, or anycombination thereof to prevent user equipments (UEs) from measuring theone or more PRS resources; and transmitting the one or more PRSresources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRS resources aretransmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS, decompressed,descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and the second numberof symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the one or more UEs tomeasure the one or more PRS resources.

Clause 13. The method of clause 12, wherein: the one or more PRSresources are at least partially de-staggered, the one or more PRSresources are received having a first comb size, the one or more PRSresources are transmitted having a second comb size, and the first combsize is smaller than the second comb size.

Clause 14. The method of clause 12, wherein the second bandwidth is abandwidth configured for PRS transmission.

Clause 15. A method of wireless communication performed by a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from a network entity,configuration information for one or more positioning reference signal(PRS) resources of a PRS resource set, the configuration informationincluding at least an indication that the one or more PRS resources arecompressed in a frequency domain and a start point of the one or morePRS resources in the frequency domain; and receiving, from a basestation, the one or more PRS resources based on the configurationinformation.

Clause 16. The method of clause 15, wherein the configurationinformation further includes an expected reference signal timedifference (RSTD) for the one or more PRS resources, the expected RSTDbased on the one or more PRS resources being transmitted to a repeaterfor repetition to one or more other UEs.

Clause 17. The method of any of clauses 15 to 16, wherein theconfiguration information further includes a comb size of the one ormore PRS resources.

Clause 18. The method of any of clauses 15 to 17, wherein theconfiguration information indicates a stagger pattern for resourceelements of the one or more PRS resources.

Clause 19. The method of any of clauses 15 to 18, wherein theconfiguration information indicates a bandwidth of the one or more PRSresources.

Clause 20. The method of clause 19, wherein the bandwidth of the one ormore PRS resources is based, at least in part, on a comb size of the oneor more PRS resources.

Clause 21. The method of any of clauses 15 to 20, further comprising:performing one or more positioning measurements of the one or more PRSresources based on the configuration information.

Clause 22. An apparatus comprising a memory, at least one transceiver,and at least one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and theat least one transceiver, the memory, the at least one transceiver, andthe at least one processor configured to perform a method according toany of clauses 1 to 21.

Clause 23. An apparatus comprising means for performing a methodaccording to any of clauses 1 to 21.

Clause 24. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storingcomputer-executable instructions, the computer-executable comprising atleast one instruction for causing a computer or processor to perform amethod according to any of clauses 1 to 21.

Those of skill in the art will appreciate that information and signalsmay be represented using any of a variety of different technologies andtechniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information,signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout theabove description may be represented by voltages, currents,electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields orparticles, or any combination thereof.

Further, those of skill in the art will appreciate that the variousillustrative logical blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithm stepsdescribed in connection with the aspects disclosed herein may beimplemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinationsof both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware andsoftware, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits,and steps have been described above generally in terms of theirfunctionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware orsoftware depends upon the particular application and design constraintsimposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement thedescribed functionality in varying ways for each particular application,but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing adeparture from the scope of the present disclosure.

The various illustrative logical blocks, modules, and circuits describedin connection with the aspects disclosed herein may be implemented orperformed with a general purpose processor, a digital signal processor(DSP), an ASIC, a field-programable gate array (FPGA), or otherprogrammable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discretehardware components, or any combination thereof designed to perform thefunctions described herein. A general-purpose processor may be amicroprocessor, but in the alternative, the processor may be anyconventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. Aprocessor may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices,for example, a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality ofmicroprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSPcore, or any other such configuration.

The methods, sequences and/or algorithms described in connection withthe aspects disclosed herein may be embodied directly in hardware, in asoftware module executed by a processor, or in a combination of the two.A software module may reside in random access memory (RAM), flashmemory, read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM),electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), registers, hard disk, aremovable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other form of storage medium known inthe art. An example storage medium is coupled to the processor such thatthe processor can read information from, and write information to, thestorage medium. In the alternative, the storage medium may be integralto the processor. The processor and the storage medium may reside in anASIC. The ASIC may reside in a user terminal (e.g., UE). In thealternative, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discretecomponents in a user terminal.

In one or more example aspects, the functions described may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware, or any combination thereof.If implemented in software, the functions may be stored on ortransmitted over as one or more instructions or code on acomputer-readable medium. Computer-readable media includes both computerstorage media and communication media including any medium thatfacilitates transfer of a computer program from one place to another. Astorage media may be any available media that can be accessed by acomputer. By way of example, and not limitation, such computer-readablemedia can comprise RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical diskstorage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or anyother medium that can be used to carry or store desired program code inthe form of instructions or data structures and that can be accessed bya computer. Also, any connection is properly termed a computer-readablemedium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website,server, or other remote source using a coaxial cable, fiber optic cable,twisted pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technologiessuch as infrared, radio, and microwave, then the coaxial cable, fiberoptic cable, twisted pair, DSL, or wireless technologies such asinfrared, radio, and microwave are included in the definition of medium.Disk and disc, as used herein, includes compact disc (CD), laser disc,optical disc, digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk and Blu-ray discwhere disks usually reproduce data magnetically, while discs reproducedata optically with lasers. Combinations of the above should also beincluded within the scope of computer-readable media.

While the foregoing disclosure shows illustrative aspects of thedisclosure, it should be noted that various changes and modificationscould be made herein without departing from the scope of the disclosureas defined by the appended claims. The functions, steps and/or actionsof the method claims in accordance with the aspects of the disclosuredescribed herein need not be performed in any particular order.Furthermore, although elements of the disclosure may be described orclaimed in the singular, the plural is contemplated unless limitation tothe singular is explicitly stated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication performed by arepeater, comprising: receiving, from a network entity, a positioningreference signal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of the PRSconfiguration, the PRS configuration specifying one or more PRSresources of one or more PRS resource sets; and transmitting, to one ormore user equipments (UEs), a PRS waveform representing the one or morePRS resources of the one or more PRS resource sets in accordance withthe PRS configuration.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:generating the PRS waveform at a baseband unit of the repeater based onreception of the PRS configuration.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: retrieving the PRS waveform from a memory of the repeaterbased on reception of the indicator of the PRS configuration.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, further comprising: receiving the PRS waveform from abase station; and storing the PRS waveform in the memory of therepeater, wherein the PRS waveform is associated with the indicator ofthe PRS configuration in the memory of the repeater.
 5. The method ofclaim 3, wherein the PRS waveform is preloaded in the memory of therepeater.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving adelay timer from the network entity, the delay timer indicating anamount of time the repeater is expected to wait between reception of thePRS configuration or the indicator of the PRS configuration andtransmission of the PRS waveform.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein theamount of time comprises a number of symbols, slots, subframes, ormilliseconds.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receivingtiming error compensation information indicating a timing error of therepeater, a timing error of a base station for which the repeater istransmitting the PRS waveform, or both.
 9. The method of claim 1,wherein receiving the PRS configuration or the indicator of the PRSconfiguration comprises: receiving the PRS configuration; and receivingthe indicator of the PRS configuration, where reception of the indicatorof the PRS configuration triggers transmission of the PRS waveform. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein: the network entity is a location server,and the PRS configuration is received in one or more New Radiopositioning protocol type A (NRPPa) messages.
 11. The method of claim 1,wherein: the network entity is a base station, and the PRS configurationis received in one or more radio resource control (RRC) messages.
 12. Amethod of wireless communication performed by a repeater, comprising:receiving, from a base station, one or more positioning reference signal(PRS) resources of one or more PRS resource sets, wherein the one ormore PRS resources are received on a bandwidth outside of a bandwidthallocated for PRS, compressed, scrambled, at least partiallyde-staggered, over a first bandwidth less than a second bandwidth and afirst number of symbols greater than a second number of symbols, or anycombination thereof to prevent user equipments (UEs) from measuring theone or more PRS resources; and transmitting the one or more PRSresources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRS resources aretransmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS, decompressed,descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and the second numberof symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the one or more UEs tomeasure the one or more PRS resources.
 13. The method of claim 12,wherein: the one or more PRS resources are at least partiallyde-staggered, the one or more PRS resources are received having a firstcomb size, the one or more PRS resources are transmitted having a secondcomb size, and the first comb size is smaller than the second comb size.14. The method of claim 12, wherein the second bandwidth is a bandwidthconfigured for PRS transmission.
 15. A method of wireless communicationperformed by a user equipment (UE), comprising: receiving, from anetwork entity, configuration information for one or more positioningreference signal (PRS) resources of a PRS resource set, theconfiguration information including at least an indication that the oneor more PRS resources are compressed in a frequency domain and a startpoint of the one or more PRS resources in the frequency domain; andreceiving, from a base station, the one or more PRS resources based onthe configuration information.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein theconfiguration information further includes an expected reference signaltime difference (RSTD) for the one or more PRS resources, the expectedRSTD based on the one or more PRS resources being transmitted to arepeater for repetition to one or more other UEs.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the configuration information further includes a combsize of the one or more PRS resources.
 18. The method of claim 15,wherein the configuration information indicates a stagger pattern forresource elements of the one or more PRS resources.
 19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the configuration information indicates a bandwidth ofthe one or more PRS resources.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein thebandwidth of the one or more PRS resources is based, at least in part,on a comb size of the one or more PRS resources.
 21. The method of claim15, further comprising: performing one or more positioning measurementsof the one or more PRS resources based on the configuration information.22. A repeater, comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and atleast one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the atleast one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a network entity, apositioning reference signal (PRS) configuration or an indicator of thePRS configuration, the PRS configuration specifying one or more PRSresources of one or more PRS resource sets; and transmit, via the atleast one transceiver, to one or more user equipments (UEs), a PRSwaveform representing the one or more PRS resources of the one or morePRS resource sets in accordance with the PRS configuration.
 23. Therepeater of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: generate the PRS waveform at a baseband unit of therepeater based on reception of the PRS configuration.
 24. The repeaterof claim 22, wherein the at least one processor is further configuredto: retrieve the PRS waveform from a memory of the repeater based onreception of the indicator of the PRS configuration.
 25. The repeater ofclaim 24, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:receive, via the at least one transceiver, the PRS waveform from a basestation; and store the PRS waveform in the memory of the repeater,wherein the PRS waveform is associated with the indicator of the PRSconfiguration in the memory of the repeater.
 26. The repeater of claim24, wherein the PRS waveform is preloaded in the memory of the repeater.27. The repeater of claim 22, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, adelay timer from the network entity, the delay timer indicating anamount of time the repeater is expected to wait between reception of thePRS configuration or the indicator of the PRS configuration andtransmission of the PRS waveform.
 28. The repeater of claim 27, whereinthe amount of time comprises a number of symbols, slots, subframes, ormilliseconds.
 29. The repeater of claim 22, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: receive, via the at least onetransceiver, timing error compensation information indicating a timingerror of the repeater, a timing error of a base station for which therepeater is transmitting the PRS waveform, or both.
 30. The repeater ofclaim 22, wherein the at least one processor configured to receive thePRS configuration or the indicator of the PRS configuration comprisesthe at least one processor configured to: receive, via the at least onetransceiver, the PRS configuration; and receive, via the at least onetransceiver, the indicator of the PRS configuration, where reception ofthe indicator of the PRS configuration triggers transmission of the PRSwaveform.
 31. A repeater, comprising: a memory; at least onetransceiver; and at least one processor communicatively coupled to thememory and the at least one transceiver, the at least one processorconfigured to: receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a basestation, one or more positioning reference signal (PRS) resources of oneor more PRS resource sets, wherein the one or more PRS resources arereceived on a bandwidth outside of a bandwidth allocated for PRS,compressed, scrambled, at least partially de-staggered, over a firstbandwidth less than a second bandwidth and a first number of symbolsgreater than a second number of symbols, or any combination thereof toprevent user equipments (UEs) from measuring the one or more PRSresources; and transmit, via the at least one transceiver, the one ormore PRS resources to one or more UEs, wherein the one or more PRSresources are transmitted on the bandwidth allocated for PRS,decompressed, descrambled, staggered, over the second bandwidth and thesecond number of symbols, or any combination thereof to enable the oneor more UEs to measure the one or more PRS resources.
 32. The repeaterof claim 31, wherein: the one or more PRS resources are at leastpartially de-staggered, the one or more PRS resources are receivedhaving a first comb size, the one or more PRS resources are transmittedhaving a second comb size, and the first comb size is smaller than thesecond comb size.
 33. The repeater of claim 31, wherein the secondbandwidth is a bandwidth configured for PRS transmission.
 34. A userequipment (UE), comprising: a memory; at least one transceiver; and atleast one processor communicatively coupled to the memory and the atleast one transceiver, the at least one processor configured to:receive, via the at least one transceiver, from a network entity,configuration information for one or more positioning reference signal(PRS) resources of a PRS resource set, the configuration informationincluding at least an indication that the one or more PRS resources arecompressed in a frequency domain and a start point of the one or morePRS resources in the frequency domain; and receive, via the at least onetransceiver, from a base station, the one or more PRS resources based onthe configuration information.
 35. The UE of claim 34, wherein theconfiguration information further includes an expected reference signaltime difference (RSTD) for the one or more PRS resources, the expectedRSTD based on the one or more PRS resources being transmitted to arepeater for repetition to one or more other UEs.
 36. The UE of claim34, wherein the configuration information further includes a comb sizeof the one or more PRS resources.
 37. The UE of claim 34, wherein theconfiguration information indicates a stagger pattern for resourceelements of the one or more PRS resources.